Suspension unit for overhead swinging doors



March 20, 1951 A. c. DALFONSO SUSPENSION UNIT FOR OVERHEAD swmcmc DOORS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 18, 1946 INVENTOR ALEXA I'YDER 0. DALFONSO AT TOR/VEY A. c. D'ALFONSO SUSPENSION UNIT FOR OVERHEAD SWINGING DOORS March 20, 1951 Filed Jan. 18, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ALEXANDER C. DALFONSO A T TORNEV Patented Mar. 20, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SUSPENSION UNIT FOR OVERHEAD SWINGING DOORS Alexander 0. DAlfonso, Santa Barbara, Calif.

Application January 18, 1946, Serial No. 642,031

8 Claims.

This invention relates to the type of garage doors which are mounted to'swing from closed position to an open overhead position, and the principal object of the invention is to provide special, efiective, linkage or hinge suspension members for hanging the door, which are extremely simple and cheap to make, and also which may be secured to the upper .doorway framing, (jamb and/or lintel) to carry the door and any balancing mechanism wholly from said lintel if desired. Other advantages and features of the invention will appear in the following description and in the accompanying drawings.

' In the drawings Fig. 1 is a vertical'cross section of a closed door suspended on my improved linkage secured to the ]intel of the doorway.

Fig. 2 is a view of the portion of the door shown in Fig. l as viewed from inside the garage or building in which it is used.

Fig. 3 shows the door of Fig. 1 as opened to overhead position.

Fig. 4 shows the door in partially opened position, and with the attachment plate to the door elongated and carrying one form of spring counterbalance.

- Fig. 5 is a horizontal cross section of a portion of the closed door at the doorway jamb showing the position of one of the suspension links.

Fig. 6 is a broken side elevation of the linkage in position of Fig. 4 but showing a modified spring counterba ance.

Fig. 7 is a vertical cross section similar to that of Fig. 1, showing a still further modification of I the spring counterbalance. ;-Fig. 8 shows the-modification of Fig. 7 in open positionp Fig. 9 is an elevation taken along the line 99 of Fig. 8.

efore describing the drawings indetail it should be noted that the invention requires a pair of door suspension links at both upper corners of the doorway, with the upper ends of t e links-preferably permanently pivoted to -a single plate which attaches to the lintel and/ordoor iamb, and with the lower ends of the links similarlyp'ivoted to a single plate or strip which attach'es to the door. But in the drawings one pair only of the links is shown. The one on the right hand upper corner of the door when facing the door from the outside, as the other pair or set would be the same except that the sets are rights and lefts.

In the drawings the door is designated l the doorway lintel 2, garage ceiling 3, doorway jamb 4, lintel or overhead attaching plate 5, door attaching plate 6, suspension link 'i, guiding link 8, garage floor 9.

The overhead plate 5 is preferably a short length of angle bar with an upper horizontally extending leg (5') drilled for screws H] for screwing it to the lintel, and the vertical leg 5 drilled as at 2 for screws for securing it to the side wall or jamb of the doorway instead of and/or in addition to the lintel, if desired. Link 8 is pivoted at its upper end at I3 to the highest rear corner of the vertical leg of plate 5, while link I is pivoted at its upper end at I l to the lower forward corner of the vertical leg of the plate. The lower ends are respectively pivoted to door plate 6 at E6 and I5.

The lower ends of both links preferably are formed with oppositely directed or confronting offset '1' and 8' pivoted on a line to plate 6 while link I being somewhat longer than link 8 is pivoted to plate 6 several inches below the lower pivoting of link 8 as the links are viewed in Fig. 1 with door in closed position.

Door attaching plate 6 is preferably also a short length of angle iron with one leg (5') bolted or screwed fiat against the inner surface of the door as by screws I l and with the other leg 6 projecting rearwardl parallel to leg 5 of the lintel plate while spaced laterally in rela-* tion thereto to pass links I and B, and which links may be in the same vertical plane.

'By the arrangement of linkage suspension of the doors so far described it will be seen that with the door in closed position of Fig. 1 the door is suspended on links i which are substantially vertical, and when in overhead position as in Fig. 3 the links lie substantially parallel (depending on the degree of or absence of the offsets 'at the ends of the links), and close to the door so as to detract. but little from the overhead clear-. ance, and this only at opposite extreme edges of the .door.

To open the door, its lower portion i pulled outward as by a handle 2|! and swun upward toward the position of Fig. 3 while the upper end of the door, due to the action of the two suspension links, takes ,a sinuated path substantially as indicated by dotted line in Fig. 4. As the links are positioned between the edge of the door and the jamb 4 it follows that the door may be spaced or notched along the edges to pass them, or clearance provided.

' Such a door suspension as above describedmay be counterbalanced by securing suitable weight to the door as indicated at 2! in Fig. 3, or by a pulley rope and weight as well understood, or it may be counterbalanced by springs in various ways, one of which spring counterweighting or balancing means which still supports the entire apparatus from the lintel plates is indicated in Fig. 4 and wherein the door attachin plate or angle iron bar (.6 of Fig. l) is considerably increased in length as at 6A and 63 to carry a spring and pulley cable balancing arrangement, all as a unit so that no separate installation of the spring is required as substantially the mere attachment of the elongated angle bar to the door takes care of the additional features.

In this figure (4) a coiled tension spring 22 extends along the angle iron bar and is hooked at its upper end to a hole or stud 23 at the upper end of the bar and to a floating pulley 24 at its lower end around which passes a small cable 25 in turn anchored at one end to the lower end of the bar at .26, While its other end passes over a guide pulley 21 carried on a lug 23 projecting from the bar, and thence passes upward adjacent the outside of the door and to a lug 29 projectillg forwardly from lintel plate where the rope is secured as at 30.

A modified form of spring counterbalance is shown in small Fig. 6 wherein link rod "I is extended as at TA and a coiled tension spring 22A is connected at its ends respectively to the outer end of rod IA, and to the upper end of the angle bar 6A.

A further modification of spring counterbalance is shown in Figs. "7 to 9. In these figures the doorway structure, door, and suspension linkage proper is all the same as shown in Fig. l and hence the same parts are given the same numerals to identify them and avoid repetition of their previous description.

The difference in this modification is the provision of a deeper vertical leg (5A) to the overhead or lintel plate and somewhat lower pivoting' of the link rods 8 and l at H and Hi to the plate, and providing a rearwardly and upwardly extending extension 1A to link rod i above its pivotal Suspension point 14 to form a short lever against which a strong coiled compression spring 32 operates.

Compression spring 32 surrounds a rod 33 which is pivoted at St to the extreme end of extension lever "iA of link rod 1, and which rod extends slidably through the head end 35 of a cylinder 36 and carries a piston or plunger 3? slidable within the cylinder.

The cylinder 36 may be entirely open at its outer end or it may be closed as by a head 38, and it is supported from it head end 85 as by a bracket 39 to which it is secured as by soldering, welding .orxotherwise and which bracket is pivoted at 49 to leg 5A of the overhead plate sothat the. cylinder may swing as lever IA moves in opening and closing the door to keep it in line with the rod 33.

Compression spring 32 reacts between bracket 39, and a collar 45 preferably screwed onthe rod 33 and held in any place of adjustment along the rod as by a check nut is also screwed on the rod, and the pivoting of the end of the rod to lever "IA is preferably done through means of a bracket 33 provided with an oiIset leg G3 in turn pivoted at 3 to lever IA, all so as to make room for the spring 32 alongside of plate 5A.

In operation the air in cylinder 36 can only escapezpast the piston and/or past the piston. rod

33 where it passes freely through the head 35, or through a very small controlling aperture 44 in either or both heads as shown in head 38, the piston functions as a dash pot in controlling the movement of the door as well as preventing too sudden a stop at both ends of travel.

Fig. 8 shows the relation of parts when the door is open, and Fig. 9 further clarifies the structure above described.

Such arrangements of spring counterbalancing as described for Figs. 6 and '7 provide self-contained units which aid the door in its upward movement and stabilizes it in overhead position, but various modifications of these sprin arrangements may be made within the scope of the invention. Also it is evident that suitable latches and locks for the door ma be provided, as well known in the art and not concerned with the present invention which relates principally to the particular suspension linkage unit with reasonable variations, also the same together with a spring counterbalance as part of the unit for the simple manner of installation shown and .described. Obvious variations would be the division of lintel plate 5 into two, one for each link, instead of but the one plate shown to permanently determine the pivoting of both links, or dispens ing entirely with plate 5 and pivoting both links at 13 and Id directly into the door frame or jamb 4, and/or similarly dividing the door attaching plate 6, or pivoting the links directly to the edge of the door, also, the doorway lintel 2, if too narrow may be built up to the required size .to support plat-e 5, or the latter permitted to project somewhat either in or out of the doorway, or if there is no lintel, the overhead plate 5 may be secured in any desired way to any of the ad jacent portion of the building to support it .sub-

stantially in the position shown adjacent the upper corner of the door, etc, etc, all as-evident to anyone skilled in the art from a glance at the drawings without special illustration, and any such evident variations are intended to be .included in my appended claims, and I therefore claim:

A suspension unit for an overhead swinging door, adapted to be used in pairs, one at each upper corner of a doorway, said unit comprising an upper plate adapted for securing to the door way iamb adjacent the upper corner of the door, a pair of fiat link rods spacedly pivoted at their upper ends at points forwardly and rearwardly respectively to said upper plate and adapted to extend downwardly (when in position with door closed) in substantially the same vertical plane, and a door attaching plate to which-the lower ends of said link rods respectively are vertically spacedly pivoted, all pivotal axes adapted to extend parallel to the plane of the door, and the link rod forwardly pivoted to the upper plate being the lowermost pivoted to the door attaching plate and this link .rod, when suspending the door in closed position hanging substantially vertically.

2. In a structure as set out in claim 1, said upper plate being an angle iron with a vertically disposed leg to which the links are pivoted and the other leg horizontally disposed for securing the latter to a doorway framing or lintel above the doorway.

3. In a structure as set out in claim 1, said pair of link rods provided with an offset portion at their lower ends respectively directed toward the other link and through which offset they are pivoted to the door attaching plate and whereby the rods will extend horizontally one. above the counter-balancing the weight of the door in op-- eration.

6. In a structure as set out in claim 1 the forwardly pivoted link rod provided with an extension above its pivoted connection to the upper plate forming a lever, and a compression spring positioned to react between said lever and a fulcrum provided adjacent the rear end of said plate.

7. In a structure as set out in claim 1 the forming a lever, a rod pivoted at one end to said lever, means slidably guiding the other end of said rod as said lever is rocked in operating the door, and a coiled compression spring mounted on said rod arranged to react between said lever and a fixed fulcrum provided on the doorway framing for balancing the door. I

8. In a structure as set out in claim 1 the forwardly pivoted suspension link rod provided with an extension at its upper end beyond its upper pivotal connection to said upper plate forming a lever, a rod pivoted at one end to said lever, means slidably guiding the other end of said rod as said lever is rocked in operating the door, a coiled compression spring mounted on'said rod arranged to react between said lever and a fixed fulcrum provided on the doorway framing for balancing the door, and a threaded collar on said rod for adjusting the effective force of said spring.

ALEXANDER C. DALFONSO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,210,875 Ward Jan. 2, 1917 1,407,739 Evans, Jr Feb. 28, 1922 1,412,109 Evans, Jr. Apr. 11, 1922 1,764,875 Hultgren Jan. 17, 1930 1,783,076 Evans ..1 Nov. 25, 1930 1,888,345 Cummings Nov. 22, 1932 1,932,515 Ferris Oct. 31, 1933 2,154,733 De Orlow Apr. 18, 1939 2,162,381 Guth June 13, 1939 2,170,295 Ferris Aug. 22, 1939 2,184,341 Ferris Dec. 26, 1939 2,185,214 Claud-Mantle Jan. 2, 1940 2,215,606 Dunn Sept. 24, 1940 2,258,065 De Orlow Oct. 7, 1941 2,259,819 Holmes Oct. 21, 1941 2,327,026 Devring Aug. 17, 1943 

